WEBVTT

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At this very moment,

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with every breath we take,

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major ... cities 
across the globe are sinking,

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including New York, London,
Tokyo, Shanghai,

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New Orleans,

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and as well as my city, Bangkok.

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Here is the usual version
of climate change.

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This is mine.

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Nothing much,

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just a crocodile on the street.

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(Laughter)

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This is an urgent impact
of climate change:

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our sinking cities.

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Here you can see urbanization of Bangkok,

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growing in every direction.

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Shifting from porous,
agricultural land --

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the land that can breathe
and absord water,

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to a concrete jungle.

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This is what parts of it look like
after 30 minutes of rainfall.

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And every time it rains,

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I wish my car could turn into a boat.

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This land has no room for water.

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It has lost its absorbent capacity.

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The reality of Bangkok metropolitan region
is a city of 15 million people

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living, working and commuting on top
of shifting, muddy river delta.

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Bangkok is sinking more
than one centimeter per year.

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Which is four times faster
than the rate predicted at sea level rise,

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and we could be below sea level by 2030,

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which will be here too soon.

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There is no coincidence that I am here
as a landscape architect.

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As a child,

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I grew up in a rowhouse

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next to the busy road
always filled with traffic.

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In front of my house,

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there was a concrete parking lot,

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and that was my playground.

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The only living creature I would find,

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and had fun with,

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were these sneaky little plants
trying grow through the crack

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of the concrete pavement.

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My favorite games with friends

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was to dig the bigger and bigger hole
through this crack

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to let this little plant creep out --

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sneak out more and more.

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And yes, landscape archtitecture
gives me the opportunity

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to continue my cracking ambition --

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(Laughter)

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to connect this concrete land
back to nature.

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Before Thais --

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my people --

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we were adapted to the cycle
of the wet and dry season,

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and you could all us amphibious.

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We lived both on land and on water.

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We were adapted to both.

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And flooding was a happy event
when the water fertilized our land.

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But now flooding means disaster.

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2011, Thailand was hit
by the most damaging

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and most expensive flood disaster
in our history.

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Flooding as turned central Thailand
into an enormous lake.

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Here you can see the scale of the flood
in the center of the image

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to the scale of Bangkok
outlined in yellow.

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The water was overflowing from the north,

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making its away across several provinces.

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Millions of my people,

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including me and my family,

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were displaced and homeless.

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Some had to escape the city.

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Many were terrified of losing
their home and their belongings,

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so they stayed back in the flood
with no electricity and clean water.

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For me, this flood reflects clearly
that our modern infastructure --

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and especially our notion
of fighting flood with concrete

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had made us so extremely vulnerable
to the climate uncertainty.

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But in the heart of this disaster,

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I found my calling.

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I cannot just sit and wait
as my city continues to sink.

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The city needed me,

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and I have the ability
to fix this problem.

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Six years ago,

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I started my project.

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My teams and I won the design competition
for Chulalongkorn Centennial Park.

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This was the big, bold mission
of the first university in Thailand

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for celebrating its hundredth anniversary

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by giving this piece of land
as a public park to our city.

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Having a park sounds very normal
to many other cities,

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but not in Bangkok,

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which has one of the lowest
public green space per capita

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among megacities in Asia.

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Our project's become the first
new public park in almsot 30 years.

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The 11-acre park,

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a big green crack at the heart of Bangkok,

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opened just last year.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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For four years,

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we have pushed through countless meetings

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to convince and never
giving up to convince

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that this park isn't just
for beautification or recreation;

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it must help the city deal with water;

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it must help the city
confront climate change.

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And here is how it works.

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Bangkok is a flat city,

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so we harnessed the power of gravity
by inclining the whole park

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to collect every drop of rain.

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The gravity force pulls down
the runoff from the highest point

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to the lowest point.

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This park has three main elements
that work as one system.

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The first, the green roof.

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This is the biggest green roof
in Thailand,

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with the rainwater tanks
and museum underneath.

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In the dry season,

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the collected rain can be used
to water the park up to a month.

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The runoff on the green roof
then fall through wetlands

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with the native water plants
that can help filter

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and help clean water.

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And at the lower end,

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the retention pond collects
all of the water.

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At this pond, there are water bikes.

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People can pedal and help clean water.

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Their exercise becomes an active part
of the park water system.

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When life gives you flood,

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you have fun with the water.

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(Laughter)

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Centennial Park gives room for people
and room for water,

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which is exactly
what we in our cities need.

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This is an amphibious design.

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This park is not
about getting rid of flood.

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It's about creating a way to live with it.

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And not a single drop of rain
is wasted in this park.

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This park can hold and collect
a million gallons of water.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Every given project, for me,
is an opportunity

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to create more green cracks
through this concrete jungle.

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By using landscape architeture as solution,

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like turning this concrete roof
to an urban farm,

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which can help absorb rain,

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reduce urban heat [...],

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and grow food in the middle of the city.

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Reuse the abandoned concrete structure
to become a green pedestrian bridge.

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And another flood proof park
at .. ... University,

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which nearly completes the biggest
green roof on an academic campus yet

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in Southeast Asia.

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Severe flooding is our new normal.

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Putting Southeast Asian region,

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the region with the most coastline,

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at extreme risk.

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Creating a park is just one solution.

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The awareness of climate change
mean we --

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in every profession were are involved in,

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are increasingly obligated
to understand the climate risk

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and put whatever we are working on
as part of the solution.

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Because if our cities continue
the way they are now,

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a similar catastrophe will happen again

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and again.

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Creating a solution
in these sinking cities

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is like making impossible possible,

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and for that,

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I would liek to share one word
that I always keep in mind.

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That is, "Tang Jai."

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Tang Jai's literal translation --

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for Tang is to firmly stand,

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and Jai means heart.

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Firmly stand your heart at your goal.

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In Thai language,

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when you commit to do something,

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you put Tang Jai in front of your work,

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so your heart will be in your action.

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No matter how rough the path,

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how big the crack,

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you push through to your goal,

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because that's where your heart is.

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And yes, Thailand is home.

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This land is my only home,

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and that's where I firmly stand my heart.

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Where do you stand yours?

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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[Kob Kuhn Ka]

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(Applause and cheers)